Breaking the Fourth Wall: Difference between revisions
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Anyway, the Fourth Wall is the fact that in any work of fiction is that the characters are unaware of the fact that they're fictional characters in a work, the audience observing them, and whatever medium conventions occur in between the two.
The term "fourth wall" comes from the days when sitcoms were filmed on a soundstage in front of a studio audience. [[Three-Wall Set|The sets of these sitcoms had three ''actual'' walls]], but nothing separating the stage from the viewing audience; for example, if Archie Bunker were watching TV in an actual living room, the "fourth wall" of the room would be in front of him, but as it was a soundstage, the "fourth wall" is not included in the set and only exists in the minds of Archie himself and his family. Were he to break character and address the audience, he would acknowledge that there is no fourth wall to the room.
Breaking the fourth wall is when a character acknowledges their fictionality, by either indirectly or directly addressing the audience. Alternatively, they may interact with their creator (the author of the book, the director of the movie, the artist of the comic book, etc.). This is more akin to breaking one of the walls of the set, but the existence of a director implies the existence of an audience, so it's still indirectly Breaking The Fourth Wall. This trope is usually used for comedic purposes.▼
▲'''Breaking the
It should be noted that other sources will refer to any fiction that draws attention to its fictionality as "Breaking The Fourth Wall". Our definition is a bit narrower: Breaking The Fourth Wall only occurs if the characters acknowledge the audience or the author, whether directly or indirectly, got it? It's not enough that I recognize my status as a wiki page, it's the fact that I'm commenting to you about it!▼
[[Older Than Feudalism|This is a very old trope]]: [[Shakespeare]]'s characters often addressed the audience. They broke it regularly in [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] theater, too, pretty much as soon as they'd ''invented'' the [[Fourth Wall]] - or, arguably, [[Unbuilt Trope|''before'']] inventing the [[Fourth Wall]].
▲It should be noted that other sources will refer to any fiction that draws attention to its fictionality as "Breaking The Fourth Wall". Our definition is a bit narrower: Breaking The Fourth Wall only occurs if the characters acknowledge the audience or the author, whether directly or indirectly, got it? It's not enough that I recognize my status as a wiki page, it's the fact that I'm commenting to you about it!
When a series breaks the fourth wall on such a regular basis that there may as well not be one in the first place, then you've gone straight into [[No Fourth Wall]].
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